2007 Conference USA Football Championship Game

2007 Conference USA Football Championship Game
Conference Championship
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Tulsa Golden Hurricane UCF Knights (9-3) (9-3) 25 44 Head coach:  Todd Graham Head coach:  George O'Leary
1 2 3 4 Total Tulsa 13 10 0 2 25 UCF 10 21 6 7 44
Date	December 1, 2007
Season	2007
Stadium	Bright House Networks Stadium
Location	Orlando, Florida
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN

2007 Conference USA football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
UCF x$		7	–	1					10	–	4
East Carolina		6	–	2					8	–	5
Memphis		6	–	2					7	–	6
Southern Miss		5	–	3					7	–	6
Marshall		3	–	5					3	–	9
UAB		1	–	7					2	–	10
West Division
Tulsa xy		6	–	2					10	–	4
Houston x		6	–	2					8	–	5
Tulane		3	–	5					4	–	8
Rice		3	–	5					3	–	9
UTEP		2	–	6					4	–	8
SMU		0	–	8					1	–	11
Championship: UCF 44, Tulsa 25
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2007 Conference USA Football Championship Game was played on December 1, 2007 between the UCF Knights, the champion of C-USA's East Division, and the West Division champion, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, at Bright House Networks Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The game kicked off at 12:00 pm EST and was televised by ESPN.

Game summary

Under conference rules, the game was held at the home field of the team with the best record in conference play; since UCF finished C-USA play at 7–1, better than Tulsa's 6–2, the game was held at the Knights' home field, Bright House Networks Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

Tulsa and UCF met at the C-USA Championship for the second time; Tulsa beat UCF at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Downtown Orlando in 2005.

Kevin Smith continued his dominance, running for 284 yards with 4 touchdowns. Tulsa kept it close in the first half as UCF's defense seemed slow to get started. In the second half, however, they only scored on a safety. Paul Smith, the Tulsa quarterback, threw for 426 yards and three touchdowns, but also gave up three interceptions. UCF won their first ever conference title in football.

Kevin Smith finished the game with 2,448 rushing yards on the season, second all-time for single-season rushing yards in FBS history. Only Barry Sanders, who rushed for 2,628 yards in 1989 for Oklahoma State, rushed for more yards in a single season.

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Tulsa UCF 1 10:54 37 2:38 UCF 28-yard field goal by Michael Torres 0 3 1 7:52 83 - UCF 83-yard punt return by Joe Burnett 0 10 1 4:58 65 2:54 Tulsa Charles Clay 22-yard touchdown reception from Paul Smith, Jarod Tracy kick good 7 10 1 1:56 48 0:56 Tulsa Jake Collums 8-yard touchdown reception from Paul Smith, Jarod Tracy kick no good 13 10 2 13:18 69 3:31 UCF Kevin Smith 3-yard touchdown run, Michael Torres kick good 13 17 2 10:03 69 0:29 UCF Kevin Smith 46-yard touchdown run, Michael Torres kick good 13 24 2 7:38 72 2:20 Tulsa Trae Johnson 27-yard touchdown reception from Paul Smith, Jarod Tracy kick good 20 24 2 3:39 69 4:07 UCF Kevin Smith 4-yard touchdown run, Michael Torres kick good 20 31 2 1:38 50 1:51 Tulsa 32-yard field goal by Jarod Tracy 23 31 3 4:01 36 2:50 UCF 21-yard field goal by Michael Torres 23 34 3 0:03 9 2:00 UCF 45-yard field goal by Michael Torres 23 37 4 10:56 - - Tulsa Kyle Israel tackled in endzone for a safety by Team 25 37 4 7:12 89 2:12 UCF Kevin Smith 74-yard touchdown run, Michael Torres kick good 25 44 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 25 44